Train
by MissMisinterpreted
Summary: One ride can change your life; Lucy learned this in the best way. [Hint of NaLu]


**Train**

* * *

She is getting on this train.

Lucy stares straight ahead at the giant red freight, clutching her ticket so tight her knuckles are turning white. Her heart is in her throat, trying to share space with the lump firmly lodged there. The last few hours have been an absolute whirlwind of emotion and quick decisions, and it has all been so overwhelming.

But this is all for the best, and if she really wanted what she claimed she has to get on this train.

And she will get on! She'll do it.

The whistle causes her to nearly jump out of her skin. Her head whips in the direction of the front of the train, watching a man hanging out of the window in the front train car.

"_All Aboard!_" He calls, the blonde knowing that it is now or never.

She puts one foot in front of the other, her legs trembling with the supposedly easy action. Her hands shake as she strains to hold everything together, taking a few deep breaths as though it will help her keep her cool. She forces herself to get onto the train, the smallest part of her wishing for her father to come storming into the station calling out to her. She wishes that he would beg for her forgiveness, tell her that he loves her and that she doesn't have to marry Edward...

However, it's far fetched, and she knows it. He doesn't love her. He won't allow her to opt out of marrying Edward. She won't get her freedom. She doesn't get to have a mother, and she doesn't get to have a father.

She needs to look forward to a new life. With a little more than five thousand jewel stuffed in her backpack along with her computer, writings, and some of her mother's jewelery, she has to move on. She needs to forge her own path. No longer will she be living under the tyrannical rule of her father, but instead under her own rules that _she _sets for _herself._

The second she sets foot onboard, Lucy is struck by the complete overcrowdings she encounters. She begins worrying her bottom lip as she tries to find a place to sit. There aren't any open booths, let alone seats, and Lucy is really not fond of the thought that she's going to be standing for a really long time on the way to... where is she going?

The blonde checks her ticket and reads the end destination. She asked the ticket guy to surprise her with a destination- her only request that it was far away. He chose Magnolia, apparently. She vaguely remembers learning about the town from her tutor. All she can seem to think of is martial arts. Wasn't it the place where that famous dojo was located? One of the most presitgious in the country with all their pupils? She used to be much more obsessed with martial arts when she was younger. There was an up and coming kid who she used to watch on television all the time. It makes her smile when she remembers. He went by the name Sala-

She suddenly stumbles when the train jolts forward. She lets out an embarrassing yelp as she topples to the floor- really just the cherry on top of a shit cake.

Much to her utter shock, though, she never makes it.

"Wow, you're clumsy."

The blonde shoves herself out of the stranger's arms who looks at her with amusement swimming in his strangely familiar olive eyes. Why is he familiar? Oh she doesn't care! She swallows thickly, already knowing that her cheeks are flooding with red. She can feel the heat, and by the way he laughs she knows he can see it.

"Th-Thank you," She quickly spits out, remembering suddenly how to speak through her panic. "I am sorry for falling on you-"

"Don't worry about it." He says, shrugging as he smiles at her kindly. Lucy is suddenly struck by the brightness of his grin. It makes her heart burn in her chest- she's never seen such a genuine look on someone's face. It was just pure happiness.

It takes her a moment to realize she's blatantly staring at him, the male tilting his head at her when she tears her gaze away from his. She clears her throat, looking away and angling her body a little off the right so she wouldn't be mistaken as a creep.

"Uh, hey," he says, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder as the blonde snaps back to look at him, "did you want to sit down?" He is smiling at her teasingly and she immediately decides she does not like it. "Wouldn't be so good if you fell over again, would it?" She laughs nervously at that, and right on cue the train jolts again, sending her straight into his chest.

"Sorry!" She squeaks, pushing against his pecs- _holy god. _His pecs were rock solid under hands. Was he made of muscle? She supposes everyone is technically made of muscle, but this guy is _made _of _muscle_-

"Ha, no worries." He says, removing her hands from his chest and making her burn with complete humiliation. Had she just molested this poor man on a train!? And did he have no other reaction!? "My friends are sitting back there, the brooding guy and the scary looking woman. I am going to just run to the bathroom..." He points over her shoulder and she laughs with complete insanity.

"Oh, of course, yeah, sure, I'll just go-" He nods and sneaks around her. He is about to go into the bathroom before he turns towards her.

"I'm Natsu, by the way." He tells her, the blonde nodding and somehow finding her voice.

"Lucy." She replies, her voice trembling with the shock of how she's been acting these past few minutes. "I-I'm going to go sit down." He smiles and tosses her a thumbs up before slipping into the bathroom. Lucy takes the deepest breath of her life as she slaps a hand to her forehead. Why is she acting like this? This is _not _like her. She is usually so calm and collected- never so... flustered. She felt Natsu up, and to be fair he didn't seem to care- but it's the principle of the thing! That is so not like her to be taken with a man's physique.

She shakes her head, traveling down the isle of people before she thinks she spots the 'brooding guy' Natsu mentioned. She isn't really sure, but the man certainly fits the description with his dark drooping eyes and wild raven hair. But what if Natsu's definition of brooding is different than her definition? What if they have separate pictures in their head to describe the emotion? It's a stupid thought: of course they did. People rarely think the same thing in such matters as what reminds them of words. Unless it was a thing... like watermelon... if you didn't think of a watermelon when hearing the word 'watermelon' you probably have a problem.

"Are you lost?" Lucy swings around to face Natsu, and he's looking at her with a raised eyebrow. In that moment the blonde is painfully aware of how utterly pink his hair is, she must have been so distracted that she didn't realize it. It's a little embarrassing to not notice something so obvious, but she was busy ogling and feeling him up; she didn't have the time! She does her best to not burst into laughter, instead trying to focus on his question.

"Yes." She answers with the most confidence of anything out of today. "I was trying to think of what your definition of brooding was." Natsu makes a face at her, although his lips betray his amusement as they twitch up.

"You are so weird." He tells her, shaking his head slightly as he grabs her arm gently (oh god, his hands are so warm), pulling her over to the guy she had thought he was talking about. She feels silly, and her cheeks burn even hotter to remind her of this.

When they get to the booth, Lucy finally sees the 'scary woman' Natsu also referenced. She definitely has a resting bitch face, but she doesn't really strike her as a particularly frightening woman with her slim brown eyes and bright red hair. She's quite beautiful, actually. The brooding guy is actually quite handsome up close, although Lucy thinks that Natsu may win in that respect. While Natsu isn't exactly the perfect vision of Prince Charming, he has a sort of boyish attractiveness that she's drawn to.

"This is Lucy. She doesn't know how to stand, so she's going to sit with us." Natsu says, the blonde casting him a glare.

"I know how to stand!" She says, the male laughing and causing her to smile slightly despite her feigning anger.

"Coulda fooled me." He teases, the girl huffing and sitting down across from him. She sheds her backpack as the 'scary woman' sits up a little straighter, if that was even possible, and holds her hand out for Lucy to shake.

"My name is Erza Scarlet. I'm pleased to meet you, Lucy." The blonde is strongly reminded of her home- well, her former living arrangement, now -and takes the red head's hand in a firm grip. She bows slightly out of habit.

"Likewise, Erza." She smiles politely, turning to her right towards the man. He holds his hand out to shake as well, and she takes it.

"Gray." He says shortly, his small smile charming her. "Nice to meet ya." He then turns towards to Natsu. "I think this is the first time you've ever brought us a girl to meet, pyro." Lucy feels her blush return tenfold, and she laughs nervously.

"Gray, look what you've done!" Erza scolds him, the blonde shaking her head as Natsu glares daggers at his friend.

"She _just _sat down." Natsu says, the blonde waving it off despite her embarrassment. "I didn't make fun of you when you started to date Juvia!" He points a finger at him accusingly, making the situation somehow so much worse.

"So you and Lucy are dating now?" Gray smirks. "She _just _sat down."

"You son of a-" Natsu looks like he's about to jump Gray and Lucy begins to melt in utter humiliation of this entire moment. Erza, however, puts a stop to it and all conversation in the train car by slamming her fist down onto the table in front of them.

"That is enough!" She says with a sort of authority that she's only ever seen men display. Lucy is silently struck by the power in this woman's voice as she resolves to be exactly like her when she gets older. "Lucy is our guest here now, and I will not tolerate you two buffoons being disrespectful towards her after just introducing yourselves." Lucy tries to hide her smile, but she fails epically as Natsu and Gray both look away pointedly. "What do you say?" Erza asks threateningly to the two of them.

"Sorry, Lucy." They chorus, the blonde laughing.

"It's all right." Lucy giggles. "Thank you, Erza."

"It is no problem at all." Erza tells her with a firm nod. "They are usually so well behaved, I have no idea why they are so out of hand suddenly." Lucy shrugs, her tension slowly slipping away.

"Well, I've been told I'm weird. I must be exuding some aura or something." Lucy smiles at Natsu, and he perks up instantly.

"Must be!" He chimes along with his own grin, his eyes squeezing shut with how wide it is. It nearly takes Lucy's breath away, and she looks back at Erza to somehow distract herself from the utter sunshine he is radiating.

"What were you guys doing in Acalypha?" She asks, the redhead clearing her throat.

"We were actually in Crocus. We just had to stop here for the Acalypha crowd." Erza tells her. "The three of us were competing there over the weekend." Lucy's eyebrows raise in surprise.

"At the Grand Martial Arts Competition?" She questions, the three nodding.

"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" Natsu says, the blonde nodding along with them.

"Totally!" Lucy chirps. "I've always loved martial arts! I took classes when I was younger, but I gave them up in favor of piano lessons." Lucy smiles fondly at the memory despite the fact that she was giving up her dream in favor of her father's. Maybe she's smiling because their fights back then were still innocent. There wasn't any real maliciousness in his actions, just care and a want for her to have a bright future.

"Lame!" Natsu jokes, the blonde laughing.

"Kinda, it seemed like a good idea at the time." She smiles. "Who do you compete for?"

"Fairy Tail." Natsu tells her proudly, the name ringing several bells. That was in Magnolia! That was the dojo she was thinking of earlier that was famous for their fighters!

"Holy shit." Lucy says. "Wait... you guys wouldn't happen to know who Salamander is, would you?" Lucy watches a knowing grin sneak up on Natsu's lips. Erza and Gray smirk and look between each other.

"Yeah, are you a fan?" Gray asks, his eyes shining that Lucy thinks looks a bit odd. She feels like she's walking into a trap even as she explains.

"When I was little, yes. The biggest." She laughs a little. "I used to watch that one sport's channel's series where they went around to all these dojos and interviewed the newbies in the field, and they did a special kid episode. I was in _love _with Salamander." She shakes her head, glad to be reminiscing on happier times in the mansion. "I wanted to be like him, that's why I took those classes. I always pretended that I _was_ him!" That makes the group laugh, especially Natsu. "Gosh, I was such a dreamer. I was shit at it."

"Well, I guess today is your lucky day, Luce!" Natsu grins at her. "I'm Salamander." Lucy's jaw immediately drops in shock as she stares at him.

"No way." She gasps, the man nodding while still chuckling.

"Yup." He says, waggling his eyebrows at her. "It's okay if you're still in love with me, you know." Lucy drops her head to the table before looking up at him again. She isn't even embarrassed by his comments, she's so surprised.

How did she not recognize him? Now that he told her, she can totally imagine that little pink haired kid in her mind's eye. She remembers that cocky grin and his wide smile that nearly splits his face in half. She realizes that there's only one thing missing- the Salamander in her memory always wore a white scaled scarf that was much to big for him. However, it's absent as she stares at him now. She supposes that it may have been his equivalent of a blankie, so she guesses it's probably good he doesn't carry it around now.

"I'm star struck." She admits, the three laughing. Lucy laughs a little with them, completely flabberghasted by the admission. "Wow. You're still doing your thing, then?"

"You bet. I'm still kicking." Lucy barks out a laugh at the lame pun and Natsu joins her. Gray groans and Erza makes a face.

"No way you thought that was funny." Gray says to the blonde, the girl continuing to giggle as she shrugs with amusement clinging to her movements. "Lucy, there's no way you're that lame."

"Sorry to disappoint." She says, high fiving Natsu without having to look at him. "Puns are wonderful! It's been forever since I've heard a good one."

"I _am _very good at puns." Natsu confirms. "I have been _train_ing for years." Lucy chuckles.

"As have I." She says. "I had to _table _a lot of them, though." Natsu cackles, and the blonde joins in with him shamelessly.

"Lucy," Erza interrupts them before their puns get out of hand, "where are you heading?"

"Same place as you." The blonde tells her. "Magnolia." The three seem genuinely surprised.

"For... what?" Gray asks, a hint of apprehension in his tone that Lucy doesn't miss. Damn, she isn't that suspiscious, is she?

"I'm going to live there." She says, smiling nervously, not having expected to be asked that question for at least a few weeks. The events of the day come rushing back to her all at once, but she maintains her smile easily enough. Years of faking it is a blessing, she realizes. "I heard it's beautiful." She hasn't, actually. But, you know, she's lying right now.

"It is." Erza agrees with an even tone, her eyes widening ever so slightly to give away her surprise. "Forgive me, but how old are you?"

"Eighteen." She answers, another lie. She's seventeen (well, technically sixteen, her birthday is tomorrow), but she can't risk them knowing that. She's technically a run away right now and giving away her real age will set them off to that. They all must be at least eighteen, and she's knows she doesn't quite look as mature as they do.

"Have you lived here for a while?" Natsu asks, sounding genuinely curious unlike Gray and Erza who seem to be trying to figure out her situation in the most polite way possible- with indirect questions. Lucy nods in response.

"Born and raised." She says, recalling the happy days with her mother. It makes her smile more real. "I thought it was time for a change though." He nods.

"Yeah. I think you'll get even weirder if you stay here any longer." He tells her, the blonde rolling her eyes at him. "I mean, you're in love with me."

"I am not!" She can't help but laugh. "Kid-me was in love with kid-you! And I was like eight-"

"You've been in love with me for ten years!?" He gasps, easily melting the tension that Lucy didn't know she was carrying in the conversation. After the ice was broken, they began to talk more about random things. As the train ride wore on, Lucy began to really enjoy being in the company of the three more and more. She realized about halfway through the trip that these people were amazing. They were talking as though they had known each other their entire lives.

After another three hours they all finally made it to Mangolia. By the time they reached their destination, Lucy noticed how Natsu's face was definitely more green than his usual tan. He looked like her after a particularly long cocktail party that she would be forced to attend.

"Are you okay?" She asks him, the male nodding, looking over at the window. They were pulling into the station at Magnolia and Natsu looks as though he's about to throw himself out of the train.

"He has motion sickness." Erza informs her. "It's pretty bad, so he takes medicine. It must be wearing off."

"Do not throw up," Gray warns him, "you'll gross Lucy out." The blonde waves it off.

"I have seen worse." She tells them, which is true. She has seen worse. There have been many times where she has to clean up after guests who were far too embarrassed to clean up themselves. Lucy has never been squeamish about bodily fluids like blood and vomit, which was only another thing that set her apart from the boarderline royalty she was surrounded by. Not all of them were like that, obviously, just a great chunk she has personally met.

"I'm go-" Natsu tries to speak, immediately slamming down on the table separating them. He groans pathetically as the train jolts to a stop. Lucy feels a pang of sympathy for him, feeling bad that her new friend is hurting.

"C'mon, we're here now!" Lucy tells him, the station lighting up with post lamps. It's dark outside, she realizes. She didn't even notice despite glancing out the window earlier. She grabs her backpack and slides it on as Erza starts to pick him up. Lucy helps her, allowing him to slip an arm over her shoulder. He leans heavily on her, and the blonde nearly buckles under his weight when he nearly passes out. "Natsu! The tain isn't even moving!"

"He's an idiot." Gray tells Lucy sincerely, as though it explains everything. "Nothing he does makes sense."

"F-Fuuuuh you." Natsu groans. Lucy practically drags him off the train, and the moment he touches regular ground it's like he suddenly gains new life.

"I... I'm free!" He says, collapsing to the ground and hugging the concrete right in front of God and everyone. Lucy looks around, getting bad second-hand embarrassment from his actions.

"Natsu!" She hisses. "Get up!"

"Leave me alone woman!" He curses back at her, waving his fist. "Let me have my moment!"

Lucy shakes her head as Erza and Gray climb out after them. The raven haired man yawns while setting down Natsu's large pack of things. He causes the blonde to yawn as well. It makes her realize that she's going to have to find a place to sleep tonight and that she really didn't think this far ahead. She honestly believed she wouldn't step on the train, now that she _is _thinking about it.

"Where are you staying, Lucy?" Erza asks. "We can walk you to your place to make sure you get there all right. Magnolia is relatively safe, but every place has their criminals."

"Oh, thank you so much, but I think I can find my way." Lucy says, trying to come across as confident. She knows she fails because Natsu looks up at her with concern. He seems to be the only one who catches onto her subtle clues of her feelings. It's annoying, he shouldn't be so in tune with her!

"It's quite all right. Perhaps I would just like to spend more time with you." Erza smiles kindly at her. Lucy can't find it in herself to force a good smile back. It's half-assed, and she knows they can tell. She's just exhausted now. Too many things have happened in such a short amount of time, it's overwhelming.

"Do you not have a place to stay, Luce?" Natsu asks, seeing through her. He's probably known from the beginning. Lucy shakes her head.

"No." She says, her voice small.

"And you're not eighteen, either." He guesses, the blonde shrugging as she rubs the back of her neck.

"No." She says, just as quiet. He stands up from the ground, clapping the dirt from his hands. He brushes off small rocks from the front of his shirt and pants. He offers her his hand with a smile.

"You can stay with me for a few days," he tells her, the blonde's eyes widening, "until you can find your own place."

"Natsu, I could never-" Lucy says, the pink haired male shrugging.

"It's just for a few days." He takes her hand. His grip is warm, his hand calloused from years of fighting. It makes her heart skip despite the somber atmosphere that was present only a moment ago. "Erza and Gray would offer but they already have roommates."

"Yeah, I would never _want _you to live with this fire hazard." Gray tells Lucy, causing the blonde to bark out a laugh when tears flood her eyes. "But it'll have to do for now. We'll help you find some cheap place in town, okay?"

"Everything is going to be okay." Erza says with a small smile. It makes the tears in her eyes slip down cheeks. She immediately wipes them away with her free hand, taking a shallow breath. She doesn't know why, but she believes her. She believes in these three people who have opened their hearts to her- a total stranger. She shouldn't, right? She shouldn't be so trusting because there all kinds of bad people in the world... but when she looks at Natsu it feels like there's nothing but sincerity. He wants to help her, in fact he seems excited to.

For the first time in years, she realizes that right now she _feels _okay.

"So what do you say, Luce?" Natsu asks her, eyes bright and smile even brighter. "Want to live with me?" The blonde laughs wetly, grinning at him.

"I would love to."

* * *

**Whoooo, this was a long one! It's not really supposed to be any good, so go easy on me ;) I wrote it in one night so obviously it's not very fleshed out or really any good lol!**

**Thanks for reading!**


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